Indians Prospect Insider

It was a wet week for the Aeros as they saw two games get washed out due to rain. It forced the club to play two doubleheaders, one against Reading and one against Erie. The Aeros managed to split against Erie, but they dropped the doubleheader to Reading as a part of their series loss. There is some excitement though in Akron as Kelvin De La Cruz made his debut and he did not disappoint.
Here...

Tomlin, Santana help Clippers beat Bulls
The Columbus Clippers found their stride and their bats on Sunday afternoon at Huntington Park, as they defeated the Durham Bulls, 5-0. Josh Tomlin pitched well for Columbus as he blanked the Bulls on the afternoon, a team that outscored the Clippers in the first two games of the series, 15-4.
Carlos Santana had another big game against the...

Okay, it's been an interesting last few days for me to say the least. Since returning from Myrtle Beach I have been basically bedridden with some kind of ridiculously powerful flu-cold concoction. With that I was unable to make it to Akron on Saturday night to see them, and also the second part of Minor Happenings is not complete.
What I did want to post from that second part of Minor Happenings...

Up until this week, the Kinston Indians had been performing their best version of the infamous Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck cartoon, "Duck Season/Rabbit Season." In this version of the Looney Tunes production, the Indians were busy shouting "Bullpen/Starters/Offense" from week-to-week, never quite figuring out how to put it all together. This week, the baby Indians found a way to get Bugs and Daffy to work...

Smit's Homerun Completes 8-6 Comback Win
Down by a run, Jason Smit hit a 2-run homerun to leftfield capping off a four run eighth inning as the Captains came from behind to defeat the TinCaps 8-6 on Saturday afternoon. Smit finished with a career high four RBI in the win.
Fort Wayne scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Danny Payne led things off with...

The Cleveland Indians today announced the club has placed infielder Andy Marte on the 15-day disabled list with a non-baseball medical issue. To replace Marte on the active roster the Indians have recalled outfielder Trevor Crowe from AAA Columbus.
So far this year, Marte is batting .208 (5-24) with 4 runs scored, a triple, a home run and 7RBI in 15 games. This will mark Marte’s 2nd career...

If a baseball player were to sit down in the offseason and diagram exactly how he would like to start his next season, that player would draw up the hot start Low-A Lake County outfielder Bo Greenwell got off to this season.
Greenwell had an amazing month of April where in 21 games he hit a blistering .405 (32-for-79) with 22 runs scored, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 23 RBI, 7 stolen...

K-Tribe Scores 4-3 Comeback Win Over Frederick
A three-run fifth inning and another strong pitching performance by Joe Gardner pushed the K-Tribe to a 4-3 win over Frederick in their series opener on Friday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. The red-hot Indians are enjoying their best stretch of baseball this season, as they have won 7 of their last 9 games.
Playing with heavy hearts...

"Minor Happenings" is a weekly column which covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.
I am back from my little excursion...

Evelyn "Mama" Kornegay passed away Friday morning at her home from pancreatic cancer.
Over the years, Mama provided home and care for over 150 Kinston Indian players over the past 15 years, most notably Victor Martinez when he was in Kinston in 2001. She provided a loving home and adored all of her "boys" as she would often call them.
"It is impossible to measure the impact Mama had...

"Indians Minor League Magazine" is a half hour program on the Cleveland Indians cable network SportsTime Ohio (STO) which airs weekly on Tuesday nights from 6:00-6:30 PM EST. The show recaps all of the highlights from the week that was in the Cleveland Indians farm system with lots of video, interviews, and in-studio guests.
This year I am writing the "Diamond In the Rough" feature which...

Captains Sweep DH From Bowling Green
For the second time in the last four days the Lake County Captains swept a double header, this time from the Bowling Green Hot Rods winning game one 3-1 and game two 6-1.
In game one, the Captains scored three times in the bottom of the first inning after two were out when Bo Greenwell and Jeremie Tice both singled. Roberto Perez doubled home...

Welcome back to another edition of Three Up, Three Down. This week, we'll look at the minor league leader in ERA, a 3B getting a second go around through the Eastern League, a red-hot utilityman as well as a couple of scuffling outfielders, and the ongoing struggle that has become the Kinston lineup.
Three Up:
Akron 3B Jared Goedert started the season hot, and is still rolling with...

K-Tribe Wins Fourth Straight 6-4 in 12 innings
Donnie Webb drove in Ronald Rivas with an RBI single in the top of the 12th inning as Kinston beat Myrtle Beach 6-4 Tuesday night in South Carolina. Kinston has now won a season high four straight games, while racking up wins in five of their last six contests.
The game winning hit capped off a great night for Webb who was 3-for-5 with...

The Sunday Drive took a long, strange trip this past Sunday, which also happened to be Mother's Day. First, it made a tall stack of pancakes with the kids for Mom and Grandma, then to a matinee of Riverdance (that's right readers, The Sunday Drive will do anything for Mom), then to a LEGO convention, then to The Crackerbarrel for an early dinner and then to a drive-in to see Shutter Island, which...

There have been a flurry of moves over the past week in the pitching department up and down the Indians' system. I had a chance to sit down and talk with Pitching Coordinator Dave Miller last night in Myrtle Beach and we talked about a lot of the guys in the system and all the movement and upcoming movement, which I will recap the conversation in Minor Happenings later in the week.
In any...

Kinston Wins Third Straight
T.J. McFarland and Chris Jones combined for a three-hit shutout as Kinston won their third straight game, beating Myrtle Beach 5-0 Monday night in South Carolina. In his first start of the season, McFarland (4-0) captured his Carolina League leading fourth win of the year, while lowering his ERA to 0.53 (in 30 2/3 innings) which also leads the CL. McFarland went...

"Minor Happenings" is a weekly column which covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that cover each team.
Sometimes things are better...

The Aeros had a big turnaround this past week after what was flat out a week of absolute torment. The Aeros managed to split a series with Trenton at home before heading onto the road to claim a series over Reading. The club is still looking for their first three-game sweep but they've at least turned things around after a win-less week.
Here is everything you need to know about the Aeros...

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!